


We Are Never Alone

by vix_spes



Series: Christmas Gift!Fics 2013 [13]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Christmas, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 15:22:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1095590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Q normally has a tendency to feel a little lonely at Christmas time but this year, things look like they might be different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Are Never Alone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Small_Hobbit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/gifts).



> There is a reference towards the end to [Ordinary Numbers](http://archiveofourown.org/works/705037/chapters/1301146) by the wonderful BootsNBlossoms and Kryptaria.

Q sighed quietly to himself as he heard the minions eagerly discussing the Q-branch Christmas drinks. The department outing that he hadn’t been invited to. Not that he had been purposely left out through malice; he simply didn’t think that it had occurred to the minions that they could have extended an invitation to their boss. He had occupied the position of Quartermaster for eight months and his first Christmas in the position was just over a week away. Not that he was planning on doing anything for Christmas. In fact, he was planning on being in work as normal; the world of espionage didn’t stop for Christmas. Besides, it wasn’t as though he had anybody to spend it with so he might as well spend it doing something useful.  
  
Don’t get him wrong, Q wasn’t one of those ‘bah, humbug’ types. Q loved Christmas or rather he used to love Christmas. Once his parents died, he lost his love for the festive season and had only celebrated it grudgingly. Then, Christmas had been the season where all around him, were the reminders of everything that had been forcibly taken away from him. Now, Christmas was a reminder of everything that he had voluntarily given up in accepting the position of MI6’s Quartermaster. It hadn’t seemed to be so bad when he had been R to Major Boothroyd but now he was more than aware that, while he had a lovely flat, he barely saw it. If he was lucky he would occasionally make it home for a few hours sleep but invariably he would end up sleeping on a camp bed in his private office.  
  
Having a social life was an impossibility, particularly when Q had always struggled with socialising and actually talking to people. Having friends wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, unless they were in the service, and even then Q was permanently on call and patience only lasted so long. A relationship was completely out of the question. He couldn’t even have a pet for some company; he knew it was probably a cliché but he had always fancied having a cat. Unfortunately, as independent as the animals were, his hours would be cruel, even to a cat.  
  
There was only one person at MI6 who worked harder than Q and that was the Chief of Staff, Bill Tanner. Q supposed that he did have a friendship with Tanner, one that solidified over long hours at work when everyone else had gone home not to mention exasperation over the antics of the double-0 branch. He wasn’t sure if the friendship would exist outside of MI6 though and given the hours that they worked, of course they were unable to find out. He presumed that it would but it would be nice to have to opportunity to find out. Not that Q regretted his job; he just couldn’t help but feel more than a little isolated.  
  
He had never felt that more than when, with his promotion to Quartermaster, he started working extensively with the double-0 branch. They might work solo missions 90% of the time and they might never be in the country at the same time but there was a feeling of camaraderie amongst the members of that branch that didn’t seem to exist anywhere else in MI6. Of course, some agents were closer to each other than others but that was hardly surprising; some of them had done their training together whilst others had served with each other before they had started working for MI6. The most obvious double act was that of 006 and 007, Alec Trevelyan and James Bond or, as various members of MI6 referred to them, the twin gods of chaos. The friendship between the two agents was legendary, as were the agents themselves. Tanner had often been heard to complain that the two of them would send him to his grave and, where his equipment was concerned, Q was more than apt to agree with him. In private however, Q was very fond of both agents, perhaps even going as far as to say that they were his favourites. And out of the two of them, Bond was definitely his favourite. Q would even perhaps go so far as to say that he had a slight, okay more than a slight, crush on the older agent.  
  
Not that it mattered because Q was never going to do anything about it.  
  
In the end, both Q and Tanner ended up working on Christmas Day. A last minute mission had come across Tanner’s desk which required 006 to be sent out to Moscow immediately. When they had finally found Trevelyan – propping up a bar with Bond – he hadn’t protested about being sent on a new mission so soon and had even been heard to say that he was looking forward to a trip back to the Motherland; apparently winter was the best time to be in Russia and he needed to replenish his vodka collection. So it was that, on Christmas Day, on the first official day off that he had had in months, Q found himself in Q-branch monitoring 006 and ensuring that he didn’t do anything stupid whilst in ‘the Motherland’. It was more tolerable than usual due to the presence of Tanner. It had felt like the time after M’s trial, when they had been laying the trail for Silva to follow only this time they were actually following orders.  
  
The two of them had exchanged presents, small token items, and they had both been pleasantly surprised to discover that they knew each other better than they had thought, managing to choose items that they both liked or wanted. It had brightened Q’s day and the day had only proceeded to get brighter when 006 completed his mission in record time, with a low kill count and with minimal damage to public property. Tanner had departed to his office in order to write his report and Q had gone to make himself another cup of tea before getting started on his report before returning to the sanctuary of his office. Upon his return, steaming cup of Earl Grey in hand, he paused when he realised that there was a package on his desk that hadn’t been there when he had left.  
  
Whoever had left the parcel there had to have security clearance for MI6; there was no other way for them to get into the building. Therefore, unless they had another traitor in their midst, it was safe. It appeared to be fairly innocuous from a distance; a fairly large box wrapped rather classily in festive colours. When he approached however, the box started to move and emit sounds that sounded distinctly like a cat. He was just reaching out a tentative hand when a figure detached itself from the shadows, startling him more than he would care to admit.  
  
“It’s not a bomb Q, it won’t explode on you. It might scratch but that’s it.”  
  
Q took the agent at his word and reached for the box, pulling off the ribbon and opening it, only to melt at what he found inside. Reaching his hands in, he scooped out what seemed to be an absolutely tiny kitten. All black with white paws and a white bib as well as the bluest eyes that Q had even seen on an animal. Eyes so blue that Q couldn’t help but draw a comparison between them and those of the man that had given the kitten to him.  
  
“I’ve cleared it with M; you’re allowed to keep her here in Q-branch as long as she doesn’t get into trouble. Maybe you could train her.”  
  
Q knew that Bond was still talking but, to be perfectly honest, he wasn’t paying attention to the words. Instead, he was completely enamoured with the kitten in his hands. And the fact that 007, that _James Bond_ himself, had bought him a Christmas present. A totally unexpected present. He hadn’t even realised that the man was here. The likelihood of the report on Alec’s mission being completed tonight was now almost non-existent. He only turned his attention back to Bond as the older man moved closer, crowding into Q’s personal space.  
  
“We are never alone Quartermaster, even if it feels like it. Don’t forget that.” Bond turned to leave, brushing a kiss against Q’s cheek and a finger along the kittens head as he left. “Merry Christmas Q.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you would prefer to comment on LJ, you can do so [here](http://vix-spes.livejournal.com/151714.html%22)


End file.
